Come Sit By My Fire
by Blue Jeans
Summary: After countless millenniums, Pluto comes to the crossroad of her life and a decision that could change all of time and the fate of the world...


.blue.  
  
  
  
Come to my immortal winter  
Cycle of life, cycle of death.  
Come to my immortal spring  
Breathing and rising,   
loving and learning.  
Come to my immortal summer  
Dreaming and dancing,  
winning and losing.  
Come to my immortal autumn,  
Beautious and ugly,   
fading and blossoming.  
Come to my immortal end,  
A beginning of tears and forgotten pain.  
Come to my birth place, see to my death  
Find my ending without end  
By the fire place we sat,  
And remember, oh remember,  
What I never had.  
  
  
.Come Sit By My Fire.  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
.blue.  
  
How many times have I promised myself that this will be the   
last time? How many times have I said, "no more, no more!" But each   
time I return, each time for the same reason I come to this place, each   
time with a different excuse.  
  
It is hard to live with this guilt when you know where to   
look to burden yourself. It is hard to stop coming back for the pain.   
Queen Serenity would scold me for doing this to myself, but then   
again, Serenity but scratched the surface of who and what I was and had   
become. I am different now; for even the ever constant guardian,   
changes.  
  
Man believes that once he reaches immortality, he would find   
stability. Things without change, without chance, without mystery or   
dangers of the unknown. He fears it as much as he craves it; I still   
do. It comforts and knawls at me, reminding me of my mortality.  
  
How many times have I asked, how did I get here? How many   
nights and days passed, no longer mattering? How many "I'm sorry"s   
have I whispered to the wind, unheard to ears it was meant to pass to?   
How many times have I been afraid of what I was and the powers I   
possessed?  
  
Here in this portal before the grand palace, shining in reach,   
yet not, I watch with a constant gaze and steady hands. Once these   
fingers trembled as they have clutched this staff, when I had first   
realized the true weight that lies beneath its beauty. I had hated   
this staff for centuries, and yet, if I were able to choose, I will not   
abandon it. It is my one companion, friend and foe. It is the one   
constant in my life that has yet to change from the mysteries of the   
past.  
  
I am, after all, still human, even with the blood of Chronous   
running through my veins. I too fear change and would rather stay then   
go into the shadowed ways. Here, in my prison, my sanctuary, and my   
home, I reside watching, always watching. Watching the past with   
guilt, the present with uncertainty and the future with... I don't   
know if I should say this word, so fragile and precious, because I   
don't know if I'll mean it if I use it. This word that Neo-Queen   
Serenity never lost sight of, this word that I had never given up on   
and yet vieled away with gossmar wrapping of experience and   
disenchantment.  
  
Hope.  
  
The pain of its utterance...  
  
The pain that's always there in knowing that tomorrow will go   
on.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Tis a bitter winter for mankind," she commented softly to   
herself.  
  
"Mankind?" The blonde beside her laughed. "Have you   
forgotten, Pluto, that we are a part of them?"  
  
Pluto smiled ever so slightly, annoyance shining in her eyes.   
"I am quite sure that his Lordship Endymion makes certain that our   
Serenity-hime does not forget," the dark-haired woman commented   
shrewdly. "It is most likely that they are taking advantage of such   
small similarities."  
  
"The princess knows what she knows." The tall brunette in the   
shadows growled out angrily.  
  
The blonde raised her hand, "Mind not Pluto, Jupiter," the   
confident voice commanded, "it is her way of cautioning us and she has   
her reasons." The blonde smiled ever so coldly, "Right, Pluto?"  
  
Pluto inclined her head, "That, General Venus, I cannot answer   
to, even if you were the Queen herself."  
  
Jupiter frowned, but before she could express any more of her   
own distaste for the Senshi Pluto, Venus' laughter interrupted her.   
"Yes, your duty." The blonde nodded, "That much I can understand about   
you, Pluto."  
  
"Picking on our near, and yet, distant cousin again, Venus?" A   
figure stepped forth from the dark hallway. Obviously amused by the   
small battle of wits occuring in that very room.  
  
"You're finally here, Mars," Jupiter pushed herself from the   
wall and tilted her head in respect to the other.  
  
"Sorry I'm late, but it was only because I was inspecting   
Serenity-hime's room before I came." Mars smiled, "You know how she's   
like."  
  
Jupiter nodded, "I'll be visiting her before I go off duty,   
then." The other paused, and for once concern shown through her   
soldier's exterior. "Unless, her highness is sleeping already?"  
  
Mars grinned, "No. Go see to her my friend, Mercury's awaiting   
your arrival anyway."  
  
Jupiter nodded, shooting one last glance of cold contempt at   
Pluto over her shoulder before exiting the room. "I apologize for   
Jupiter, she never got over that incident on Earth." Venus shrugged   
and turned her back to the Time Guardian. "She's too protective of our   
little princess, and though she will not admit it, she too, still   
doubts Endymion much." Venus sighed ever so slightly from weeks of   
frustration and fatigue.  
  
"So, the little one's still sneaking off to see her prince?"   
Pluto asked.  
  
Venus flipped back a strand of golden hair with uninterest,   
but Pluto could tell that the blonde was annoyed. "You should know   
this better than any of us," the blonde replied tartly.  
  
"Venus!" Mars reprimanded the other softly.  
  
Pluto smiled over at the soldier of fire, though it faded   
slightly in seeing the other paler than usual. "Thank you," she said   
as she noted the dark circles under the smiling eyes of Mars. She   
could see how the sparkle dulled a little within those strange swirls   
of purple mysteries.  
  
"Whatever must be, must be, Pluto," Mars sighed tiredly but her   
understanding smile did not leave her face. Whatever nightmares she   
was having, it had wearied the raven-haired woman enough that her   
usually fiery spirit seemed subdued to a flickering flame. "Venus is   
just getting worried over our little princess, only she hides it much   
better than Jupiter's impatience."  
  
"You know, Mars, I'm not used to people talking about me as if   
I'm not here." Venus frowned, though Pluto could tell the other was   
hiding a slight smile.  
  
"Well, you're always needed nowadays, Venus," Mars teased, "I   
wanted to give you a five-minutes break!"  
  
Pluto smiled at the two before her, "I must take my leave now,"   
Pluto nodded at the two senshi before her in acknowledgement.  
  
"So soon, Pluto?" Mars asked surprised. Venus, on the other   
hand, looked neither surprised nor disturbed by the sudden need of   
absence on Pluto's part.  
  
"I was here on business and I have lingered longer than I   
should've." Pluto smiled sadly. All the things she couldn't say were   
on the tip of her tongue, but her mouth was closed in the shape of   
apologetic regret.  
  
"Formalities would be wasted here," Venus turned to Pluto and   
offered her hand. "Though we do not always see eye to eye; I do,   
however, appreciate your efforts, Pluto."  
  
It should've relieved her that Venus was offering her the easy   
way out, that the other was offering not just peace but friendship.   
Yet, somehow, the action caused more pain.  
  
"Yes," Pluto reached out and grasped the blond woman's hand   
firmly. "Thank you, General Venus."  
  
Venus smirked at the title, "Don't compare me to those Earth   
men," the blonde shooked her head. "I am nothing like them."  
  
Pluto tipped her head in acknowledgement, "If that is your   
wish, Venus." Though, for a moment, she could see the resemblance   
between the Moon and her Earth. The irony of Venus' own words with her   
earlier statement went unmentioned.  
  
Venus blinked in surprise before regaining her cool composure,   
though those blue eyes of hers warmed to the other. "May the moonlight   
guide your journeys, and the stars bring you luck," Venus smiled,   
"Pluto."  
  
Mars watched the exchange with sadness as she looked to the   
Earth, framed by immortal pillars. It did not escape her attention   
that Venus was reluctant to be called a brethren to their Earthian   
ambassador, and his protectors. Apparantly the blonde did not trust   
Endymion and his guards any more than Jupiter did.  
  
"And may Time be kind to you and ripen the fruit of life,"   
Pluto answered with her right fist to her heart.  
  
"Goodbye, eternal sister of the gates." Venus said as Pluto   
vanished into the portal.  
  
For a long time the room was silent. The blonde was so lost in   
thought at the exchange that she did not notice the dark sadness in the   
eyes of Mars. And as the dark-haired woman turned her back to the   
pensive blonde and the Earth in the sky, it was Venus who missed the   
defeat in the other's usually confident stance. Mars turned away from   
the beauty of the sight while Venus faced its fragile light.  
  
"Destiny is written in the stars," the words of a brethren   
general of Earth once told them with a poetic and charming smile. Mars   
wondered how much he believed in his own words, and for his sake, she   
hoped that he was wrong.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"So what you're saying is that we can't change the events   
within our lives," the blonde looked pensively out the window as she   
sipped her tea.  
  
"No, I'm not saying that," the dark-haired woman answered,   
resting her cheek against her palm. She stirred her own tea with   
uninterest, watching the foggy vapors float towards the ceiling.   
"It's just that it's best that some events happen and I help get them   
there, we all do. That's our destiny."  
  
"But wouldn't it be easier, Setsuna, if we made our own   
choices?" The aqua-haired woman asked outloud, "After all, who knows?   
Maybe we might find a future to suit all of us for the better."  
  
The dark-haired woman straightened and refused the suggestion   
with a shake of her head, "How do you know what's good for you? If we   
had destiny and it said that we would all be happy one day, why change   
it?"  
  
"Why not?" The blonde sat down the cup. Clear eyes of evening   
skies looked to the white cieling, "Change is good for the soul."  
  
"And destiny brings out these changes," the dark-haired woman   
insisted.  
  
"Setsuna-mama, how do you know we'll be happy there, in your   
future?" A small girl, with deep set eyes of questioning darkness,   
inquired softly.  
  
For a long time it was silent. Setsuna sipped her tea as the   
others watched her in silent anticipation. "I just know," Setsuna   
answered. Her eyes looked out into the city beyond the glass, "because   
that's my destiny."  
  
  
***  
  
  
The blonde in front of her adjusted the strap of her gown   
before straightening. A sigh escaped those lips that changed from its   
usual frown that appeared more often than the other's smiles used to.   
"I'm ready," the blonde announced and tilted her head at herself in the   
mirror. Venus lightly ran her slender fingers through the loose hair   
that escaped the tight clasp of the clip now adorning her head, unused   
to the confinement it presented to her blonde strands.  
  
"This is the night," Pluto said softly from behind.  
  
"I know," the other answered before turning to flash her a   
weary smile over one shoulder. Blue eyes, once mischievious, turned   
into somber ambers, pretaining all the silent questions the other would  
not voice. She wondered if the other wasn't asking out of fear or  
respect. "It's not every day you get dressed for your own funeral."  
  
"I did not forsee this, sis--"  
  
"No!" Venus firmly stated as she shook her head. "Don't lie   
to me," the soft words stopped Pluto, "as leader of the Sailor Senshi,   
it is my duty to bear this burden. Do not dishonor what I must do with   
words of pity, I have enough strength, still, to deserve better than   
that, Pluto."  
  
Pluto looked away, "I'm sorry."  
  
Curious blue eyes studied the other through the glass before it   
softened and Venus turned. "Mars is waiting, she understands what I   
cannot comprehend within you, Pluto. And Mercury will like to have a   
word with you."  
  
The dark-haired senshi reached up and loosened the bow upon her   
breast, "For your sacrifice," Pluto said and handed Venus the ribbon.  
  
The blonde leader looked surprised at the ribbon in her hand   
before a slow smile spread across her face, "Thank you." Blond hair   
fell as Pluto watched amused as the other released her hair and tied   
one single strand back with the ribbon. "I'll remember this," the   
blonde nodded before moving passed the silent dark-haired woman. "You   
know what, Pluto?" The blonde paused at the door, "Here!"  
  
Pluto reached out surprised as her hand came across a smooth   
surface, "For luck." Venus explained before exiting.  
  
Pluto looked down at the slender hair pin in her hand.  
  
Closing her fingers around it as Pluto closed her eyes. She   
knew, no matter what, she'll never be able to erase the memory of what   
she had seen and would see, on the blackest day of the System.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"So, you have come," a cool voice echoed against the empty   
throne room.  
  
"My Queen," she bowed.  
  
The woman only laughed bitterly, "If I were your Queen, and   
you, my subject, you would not have allowed this kingdom to end through   
silence."  
  
"And if you were truly against it, you would not allow it to   
end this way through lenincy. Not here. Not in this throne room,   
alone." Pluto answered quietly.  
  
The queen smiled at this, "So, perhaps you have come to keep me   
company, Pluto?"  
  
Pluto met those old eyes; cold eyes of a goddess and a woman   
who would soon be dead. A woman who had seen much, felt much, and   
learned much, a woman who she understood and could relate to for years   
and years to come. "Until Saturn vanquishes the demon sleeping here, I   
shall be by your side, my Queen."  
  
Gone was the youthful woman long ago, who had told of those  
golden dreams in the darkness of the night. Gone was the blue eyes of   
hope, spilling out secrets and desires to show her the sparkle that had  
resided, once, in the cold, cruel heart of the Queen. Gone was that   
woman, who once tried so hard to understand her, and who finally, came   
to hate her. Once, Serenity would look on with disapproval when it came   
to those dark and ponderous looks on Pluto's face. Now, that soft smile   
was gone, in its place was a face of stone.  
  
The steel beneath the bloom.  
  
The Queen had too much to lose to forgive her for her duties  
this time. Too much. She was asking too much, Serenity had told her  
when she had once innocently inquired what will happen in the future.  
Pluto could but look on at the other with sad eyes and tell her what  
she had not told any before Serenity. Those who had never tried to   
like her, those who had always hated her, to them she could say nay  
without guilt, but this time her resolve had crumbled and to the end  
of time, she would regret it.  
  
It was inevitable, nonetheless.  
  
But that look on Serenity's face when she uttered those words  
were indescribable. Never had she regreted losing a friend, until  
that moment of confrontation. And she had lost. She had lost almost  
everything, except the one thing she wanted, in her secret heart, to  
lose more than anything. Her duty. Yet, alas, she could not, for it  
was the only thing that followed her out of that cold and bitter end.  
  
The old queen looked out the grand windows that framed the   
distant Earth, "A cursed place." Serenity whispered as silent tears   
glided down untouched cheeks. "A cursed future for them all."  
  
Pluto gripped her staff, "All but one." the mysterious senshi   
answered.  
  
The Queen smiled at the three whispered words that made death   
almost worth it. "My last retribution."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Dark hair swirled as the crystaline structures glimmered   
beneath the sun. There is laughter in the distance, coming from that   
place, a paradise in a land of waste. There, where the weather's   
always fine and the people always smiling, she watched from afar.   
Rouge eyes, the color of dark blood, closed to listen to the sounds that   
the wind carried to her ears. The future's set. She had done her   
duties, and now there's peace at last.  
  
Peace, joy, and happiness.  
  
She continued to stand, watching. From the distance the palace   
shimmered like clear ice, jutting out from the ground. From here,   
echos of someone else's happiness reached her like a faint breeze in   
the Spring. She felt lighter, somehow, standing here. Knowing, with a   
certainty, that she will never truly be apart of that world.  
  
Even though she spent her life fighting to build it.  
  
It did not matter now. There were other things to watch out   
for, and other things to ensure that those who resided in that city of  
lights kept their happiness. Their precious, hopes and dreams and  
wishes.  
  
She turned her back to Utopia and faced the wasteland before   
her. She knew too much, and knowledge taught her one thing. Happiness   
is fleeting, innocence is easily lost to the times of hardship. So she   
stood, taking the burden of humanities darkness, humanities loneliness,   
while they became less and less human. And yet, this fake happiness   
gave them hope.  
  
Queen Serenity's words still echoed in her ears, chilling her.  
  
For this, this Utopia, was her "last retribution."  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
Sailor Senshi Pluto put the hair pin into her hair, winding   
the small bun at the top of her head. She accidentally pricked her   
fingers as she finished and watched with curious eyes as one drop of   
blood soaked through the white glove of her uniform. Outside she could   
hear screams, explosions and fighting. Every once in awhile the ground   
would shake beneath her feet.  
  
Out there, those that she loved were dying.  
  
Out there, the future was repeating herself and as Pluto watch   
the wound on her hand expand and saw the future unfold, watched as lives  
were lived and given in the name of another Goddess-Queen; and she asked   
herself something she never dared question. Is that place, that   
beautiful, cold, and distant place, truly happiness? Is it the Utopia   
that I want Venus to die for? Is it the hardship I want Mars to  
discover? Is it the loneliness I want Jupiter to bare or...  
  
'Pluto,' Mercury's voice echoed in her ear. 'I want you to   
have something. I know that since you had to carry the garnet orb, it   
might inconveince you during battle, so I asked the others to help me   
make this. Here, it's a staff to hold the garnet orb. It's made from   
our powers.'  
  
She looked down at her staff that had supported her for so   
long, and looked to the Garnet orb, reflecting the color of her eyes,   
mirroring her face on the surface. She knew then that the others had   
sacrificed their own powers to make her this gift, their parting gift.   
A gift of friendship, rememberance, and power.  
  
The cold, cruel words of Serenity echoed in her ears of a dying   
Queen.  
  
'My last retribution.'  
  
It was then that Pluto decided.  
  
Pluto narrowed her eyes as she walked to the terrace, watching   
as the others fought with their lives. She raised her staff high in   
the air, high in the midst of war and carnage and genocide. "It ends   
here." She whispered fiercely, and her arm swung down.  
  
The jewel was smashed against the marble floor.  
  
Splintering into a million pieces.  
  
The long road of destiny was crushed against the past. The   
moonstone floor was littered with its pieces. Another destiny came   
into place, another future. And the orb reformed itself, exploding   
with light. Before Serenity in her cold, cold throne room could   
stand... Before the hands of the Princess of the Moon and the Prince   
of Earth could unite... Before the Senshi, protectors of the Moon   
could die...  
  
"My last retribution," Pluto whispered with a smile on her   
lips.  
  
The Moon was a washed with light.  
  
And the crystal city in the future splintered and disappeared.  
  
Somewhere in the future, there was laughter and tears.   
Somewhere in the future, Aino Minako kissed Hino Rei's cheek as they   
parted ways to their own separate houses while their children waved   
goodbye to each other. Somewhere in the future, Ami said goodbye to   
her last patient of the day with a smile on her face just as Kino   
Makoto walked into the room with a bag of cookies baked by her mom to  
send to Ami and her latest boyfriend in tow. Somewhere in the future   
the Senshi grew old, had children and grand children, and died.   
Somewhere in the future, Meiou Setsuna sat, sipping her tea and   
discussing philosophy with her friends...  
  
"So what you're saying is that we can't change the events   
within our lives," Haruka looked pensively out the window as she sipped   
her tea.  
  
"No," Setsuna smiled softly. "I didn't mean to say that at   
all! What I meant was anyone can change and choose their own   
destinies. No one should be able to decide the long road, not even a   
Goddess of the Moon."  
  
Michiru set down her tea cup and gave her friend from across   
the table a strange look, "A Goddess of the Moon?" The aqua-haired  
woman asked.  
  
Hotaru grinned at her, "Wherever did you get *that* from,   
Momma?" The little girl asked, giggling cheerfully at the idea. The  
same wide-eyed, innocent stare looked up at her with curiosity as  
Hotaru had done many a times in the years that had already passed.  
  
Setsuna only laughed as she ruffled the other's hair, "It was   
nothing." She sighed just as Professor Tomoe himself sat down next to   
her, handing his daughter a small cup of icecream and setting down his   
own tea. "How's the baby, Setsuna?" He asked with a gentle smile as  
he glanced down at her swollen stomach.  
  
"How's imouto-chan?" Hotaru echoed eagerly beside her.  
  
Setsuna smiled and clasped hands with her husband, touching  
the hair of her daughter with laughter on the tip of her tongue and joy   
sparkling in her eyes. "The little one's fine," she smiled.   
"Everything is just fine."  
  
  
  
.The End.  
  
  
blue:"And what have we learned in today's fanfic, kids?"  
Minako:*in a sarcastic voice* "That you are god."  
blue:"It's true, but no." ^_^;;  
min'na:-_-;;  
blue:"Come on guys! You can get this!"  
Rei:"Gee, let me guess. I think I passed this BIG sign  
that had on it "Crystal Tokyo SUCKS" in big flashing  
letters, and a side note that stated that all the  
Senshi would be miserable in it except odango-atama."  
Usagi:"Hey, I resent that!"  
blue:^_^;; "That too, but you bakas didn't get it, BAKA! The  
REAL reason for this fic, you bakas, is..."  
Setsuna: "Don't piss me off?"  
blue:"AND THE GRAND PRICE GOES TO, MEIOU SETSUNA!"  
Makoto:"Ow, my ear drum."  
Ami:"Ow, my head."  
Usagi:*grumbling* "I resent that, too."  
blue:"Oh shuddap. I didn't kill any of you this time.  
In fact, look, look! I saved you just when all   
of you were about to be killed! So, be grateful!  
WORSHIP me!" ^_^v  
min'na:-_-;;  
  
  
.blue.  
blueweber@hotmail.com  
  
Yeah, yeah. The Queen is a bitter old lady in this fanfic.  
No, I had no clue the ending was going to turn out this way.  
I blame it on Jon Carp for making me read his eccentric and  
shrewdly written fanfics, and Mark Doherty's (who's e-mail  
address doesn't even work!) fanfic "I'm Here To Help" that  
turns Crystal Tokyo into hell on ice. (And a great fic at  
that!) Oh, and Tomoe and Setsuna, that idea is borrowed  
from Cavis-chan's "Rifts". Cheers to Archmage who recommanded  
Doherty's "I'm Here to Help" to me :) Anyhoooo, hoped you  
enjoyed this little fable!  
  
  
P.S. Why is Setsuna with Tomoe and NOT Endymion/Mamoru?  
Well, several reasons:  
(1) It's SO last season.  
(2) Setsuna's too good for the bastard.  
(3) As you can see, blue is not a fan of Endymion/Mamoru.  
(4) I don't think Setsuna would ever change the future to  
get *HIM* as the one to make her happy, though I really  
did like how it worked out with.... urrr... not going  
to give that one away ^_^;; besides, *I* don't believe  
she's into that whole the steal Endymion thing, and of   
course, I didn't want her to follow every other female  
villain's foot steps.  
(5) Have you SEEN Tomoe?! *drool*  
(6) Because I'm the author and I say so! That's why!  
*sniffs disdainfully*  
-----  
The poem at the beginning is mine. Do *NOT* plagerize.  
-----  
.blue.  
blueweber@hotmail.com 


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